The distribution of this story is for personal use only. Any other form of distribution is prohibited without the consent of the author.

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own JKR's characters and never will. I'm sure that Ms Rowling would never treat her characters in the same manner I've treated them. Eve is a bastard of original character and real life person and I try to deny any responsibility for her.

Author's note: All my thanks to my beta-reader, Zsenya and my friend, Miss Pince. Their advice was most beneficial.

Chapter 1

A door crashed against a wall somewhere in the Burrow. Ron and Ginny looked up from their game of wizard chess; Ron was close to check-mate when they had heard the crashing sound.

"As from now, I no longer consider you my brother!" George's voice echoed through out the house. Ron caught Ginny's eyes. They heard a.door smashing in its frame and hurried footsteps down the stair. Seconds later Fred shouted:

"Fine by me, you bastard!"

Ron and Ginny sighed, the fight had escalated to new heights and they turned their heads after George who stormed out the front door.

"Should we go after him?" asked Ginny nervously. Ron shook his head.

"It is best we try to stay out of this, it's their fight."

They both knew exactly when this had started. It had been on the sunny afternoon at the beach in Brighton where they had met Eve.

Only days after they had arrived home from Hogwarts, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had told their four youngest children that they would accompany their mother to Brighton while their father attended to some business at home. Ron had been suspicious that his father planned to strenghten the wards at the Burrow and probably wanted to send the family away so that he could carry out some experiments. Bill was supposed to come and help him for a couple of days. The kids spent most of their stay in Brighton at the beach while Mrs. Weasley went shopping, although once or twice she Apparated to the Burrow to help her husband.

Ron and Ginny had been quick to retreat underneath a sunshade when the sun hadn't agreed with their red hair and pale complexion. Fred and George had defied that on the grounds they were too interested in the birdlife to let the sun bother them. Yeah, birds in bikinis, Ron had thought, glaring after his brothers where they had been chatting to two girls in pink bikinis. He had just been glad that his sister didn't wear one of those bikinis, her one-piece swimsuit was skimpy enough. Why did he have to worry about that too? He hadn't liked the fast rate his sister was growing up, there should be laws against little sisters growing breasts. Soon there would be worries about guys chasing after her and he knew for a fact that no matter how smart girls were, they could just as well get involved with some shady guys. Hermione was the perfect example, allowing that Bulgarian oaf near her. What would Ginny do, snog Draco Malfoy?

His own thoughts had scared him, so he had turned to check if his brothers had gotten themselves in trouble with those girls, but they were nowhere to be seen. Ginny had been engrossed in some magazine and he had been starting to curse himself for forgetting to bring at least one comic book with him when the twins had come into view. They had been in deep conversation with a girl, actually they had seemed to be gaping at her like she was a veela. Ron had never seen them act like this, not even at the Quidditch World Cup where they had just about laughed their pants off when Ron and Harry had been ready to jump out of the top box. But this girl was everything but a veela, her face was not special in any way and she had ash-blonde hair which had a peculiar glitter about it. Ron told himself that the sunshine reflecting on the sand was causing that affect, and he hadn't thought that she had been any more impressive than many of the other girls at Hogwarts.She hadn't even been wearing a bikini so Ron was oblivious as to what could fascinate his brothers so much.

"Eve, meet our kid brother, Ron. Ron, this is our... friend, Eve," Fred had said with a stupid grin on his face. Ron had not been happy about the kid brother remark and had scrambled to his feet to show them who was indeed was the kid brother, he being several inches taller then the twins. Eve had looked him up and down and said quite sarcastically,"You look remarkably like a giraffe."

The twins had howled with laughter while Ron had scowled. This was an exceptionally bad joke by the Weasley standards. Even George's joke about Ron's shoes being the missing lifeboat of the Titanic was had been much funnier. Ron hadn't been able to think of anything to say and had sat down again on his towel, his ears crimson red. Ginny had stopped reading her magazine and now looked with concern at Eve who hadn't seemed seem to notice her. Ron hadn't liked this new friend of the twins. When they had walked away, Ginny had turned to Ron and said, "What was that, Malfoy's cousin or something?"

"Doubt it but equally as nasty," Ron had said in a muffled voice. He was somewhat sensitive about his height and this remark had certainly not made him feel any better.

They had stayed three more days in Brighton and the twins had seemed to spend every waking hour with Eve. On the way home, they had boasted about having her telephone number and address. "She might even be able to come to the Burrow for a visit." Ron and Ginny were a bit worried about that since that she was a Muggle and the Burrow was quite a magical place though it might not be grand. When they were home and the twins had run out to the nearest pay phone, Ron voiced his concern to Ginny, "Is she a girlfriend to them both?"

"Ron! That's absurd. I'm sure they are all just friends, maybe she will choose one of them, I don't know," Ginny had shrugged.

"But it seems they both like her, isn't one going to get hurt?" Ron had replied then in a low voice. Ginny had furrowed her brow.

"I don't know, I hope not. They never fight or anything, always happy for one another if one gets something, you know..."

This time though, one wasn't happy for the other. A week after they had returned home, tension had started to mount. Fred had discovered that George had called Eve without him knowing and that had resulted in a quarrel. But it was nothing compared to the fight they had when Fred had returned home after having spent the whole day out. George had been livid; especially when he learned that Fred had not only been meeting Eve but they had come to a certain understanding. George had sulked for a week but then he confronted his brother. It would either be him or Eve and that had resulted in them disowning each other.

~~~~

George sat on Percy's neatly made up bed. He still felt the rage in his whole body and deep inside he was glad because the rage made him forget how torn he really was. It was a pain like no other. He had never felt this way about a girl like he felt about Eve, he thought about her every second and dreamt constantly about her. Then, there was his brother, his twin. They had never been apart, they had never fought, and they were as close as one could get to another person. Now all was changed, they had both wanted Eve for themselves and neither of them was ready to give in.

George grasped tightly around his head. He felt so bad, it could only be compared to what he went through when he thought the Slythering monster had killed Ginny, and back then he and Fred had supported each other. This was a double broken heart, he had lost the first girl he had loved and he wasn't speaking to his twin, his other self. He wanted to get away from it all but for now he settled for Percy's room while its owner was on a mission for the Ministry in France. He couldn't see how he could ever again share the bunk bed with Fred. They had fallen out for good.

Was he supposed to cry now? He didn't know, he just felt this terrible pain and he knew nothing could ease it. His parents had tried, they had come after him after he ran out of the house. They had made attempts to get him to talk but he refused. This wasn't really any of their business, this was between him and Fred. Finally they had left him and his mother hadmentioned that he could sleep in Percy's room.

Why had they fallen for the same girl? Their taste in women was usually different, George knew that Fred had fancied Angelina Johnson while he himself had had more eyes for a Hufflepuff girl in their year. Angelina was dark, tall and quite exotic looking while the Hufflepuff girl, whose name was Anne, was blonde with wavy hair. Then again, Eve was very unlike them both. Smart looking with her ash-blonde hair and sharp cheekbones whereas Anne was rather roundfaced. Obviously looks didn't matter or Eve would have had more trouble deciding between them. It was uncanny how alike in appearance they were, the best way to indentify them was the tiny mole George had on the right side of his chin and Fred's cow-lick. It was usually better to tell them apart by their posture, George had a tendency to fold his arms a lot while Fred was more into shoving his hand into his pockets. Was that how Eve had made her choice? Did she like boys who had their hands in their pockets better? He knew that wasn't the case, this was a matter of personalities, Fred was more outgoing, the leader and always the smart-mouth while he was the care-taker, the sensible one and one might say the boring one. That could be the reason, thought George, while he stared down at the floor, deep in his thoughts. He quickly pushed out the thought that he had never seen his future without Fred by his side, it was like imagining how it would be like to cast oneself into black abyss. He knew his thoughts were heading that way but there was no need to accelerate the process.

~~~~

Harry rested his head in his hands, looking down at the pieces of parchment that were scattered over his desk. These were all notes on Quidditch, both written notes and drawings, showing diagrams of various tactics and tricks. This was his way to keep himself occupied so he would not think too much about the events of last June. It had all happened six weeks ago, Voldemort's resurrection, the ghost images of his parents and Cedric's death. No, he was not going to think about it, the pain was still too much to bear. Concentrate on the Quidditch diagram here, think about those Beater tactics, Fred and George would benefit from them.

Suddenly Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a light tapping on his window. A tiny, grey owl fluttered outside, it was Pig bearing a letter from Ron, without a doubt. Harry was quick to let him in so the Dursleys might not notice. Pig hooted as he flew around Harry's head.

"Ron hasn't been able to train you any better?" Harry said as he snapped Pig out of the air to get to the letter the owl was carrying. Harry spread out the roll of parchment that had been attached to the owl's leg. It read:

"Hi Harry,

It is great that you liked your birthday presents. I was surprised that Hermione was able to find a fun book to give you."

Harry looked at the book, which lay on his desk, Penalties, Poor Play and Plenty of Points. Quidditch Techniques and Tactics. Ron wouldn't mind a look at it since he was going for the unmanned Keeper's position on the Gryffindor team.

"Anyway, I'm writing to tell you that Dumbledore has finally agreed to let you come to the Burrow. After a heated discussion about how we would go about picking you up, no Floo powder this time, and we agreed that it might not be wise for anyone who came last year to come this time. It might put the Dursleys off or that's what Dad reckons. I admit he's kind of right, besides if the same envoy would arrive now, I suspect number four, Privet Drive would be destroyed. Let's say that some members of the family aren't on the best of terms and it is a miracle that the Burrow still stands."

These words made Harry ponder, who was fighting? Had Ron had some disagreement with the twins? He thought about this for a moment and kept on reading.

"Percy is going to pick you up, he's borrowing a car and we thought it would be best if he arrived alone. I hope you don't mind, at least he's stopped going on about Mr Crouch. His son did us a favour. You can expect Percy around noon next Saturday.

Well, until then, bye,

Ron"

Harry folded the letter, grinning at Ron's sarcastic remark about Mr Crouch. Percy would undoubtedly leave a better impression on the Dursleys than his younger brothers and father. But they would regard him with suspicion nevertheless.

Harry didn't dare tell the Dursleys that there would be a wizard picking him up. He only stated that somebody, driving a car, would come to pick him up the next day. The Dursleys were less than pleased.

"Is this somebody of your sort, boy?" said Uncle Vernon angrily.

"What do you think?" answered Harry.

"Don't be cheeky, boy. You will answer my question. I would appreciate that a scene like last year wouldn't occur this time." This sounded more like a threat than a request.

"I think I'm safe to say that will not happen again. There will be a car coming to pick me up." Uncle Vernon answered this with a grunt and seemed to sound relieved.

Harry knew it would be better to be ready well before noon on Saturday because Percy would probably be punctual and he was. At 11.51 a.m. a car pulled up outside the house. The Dursleys all looked out the living room window to see who was coming.

"Harry! Looks like your chauffeur is here," shouted Uncle Vernon, attempting to be funny. "Well, he doesn't seemed to be unnatural even thought he is driving an Italian car. Fiat Uno, give me Japanese cars any day." Harry didn't hear more of Uncle Vernon's ranting about cars because he had just opened the front door. He had to suppress a little yelp of surprise. It was Percy, dressed as a Muggle but his hair wasn't fiery red anymore, it was chestnut brown with some strange shimmer.

"Hi, Harry. Sorry about the hair. Mum's idea, she was sure that your family would feel better if I didn't look too much like my father and brothers. It's just a simple glamour." Percy smiled awkwardly. "I gathered that it would be best that we had a quick getaway."

"Yeah," said Harry, "the natives get restless very quickly." They went in and found Uncle Vernon in the hall. Percy couldn't help but being polite.

"Hello, you must be Harry's uncle. I'm Percy W... ugh... Weatherby." Percy stuck out his hand and Uncle Vernon stared at it as if he would meet certain death if he would dare touch it. When Percy realised that his greeting was not welcome, he put his hand in the pocket and turned to Harry.

"Shall we get your trunk?" Harry just smiled nervously.

They left the house without bothering to say goodbye to the Dursleys. Percy didn't seem at least offended by their behaviour and whistled merrily while he tried to close the trunk of the car.

"It is a bit small but it will do for now," said Percy as he sat in the driver's seat and Harry sat in the passenger's seat.

"Is it a Ministry car?" Harry asked, remembering the much finer Ministry cars they had sat in few years earlier.

"Oh, no! This belongs to my Penny. Her father gave it to her and it is quite useful really, especially when travelling in Muggle neighbourhoods," said Percy as he took a slow, righthand turn.

"So you have a driver's license," said Harry and looked at Percy whose ears turned red.

"Not really... It is of course vital for members of the Ministry to be able to operate the basic Muggle machines and I had some practice driving the Ford Anglia before it vanished." Percy seemed almost uncomfortable.

It was quite a drive to Ottery St Catchpole and after about two hours Harry decided to risk asking Percy about what Ron might have been implying in his letter.

"Is Ron having a fight with the twins?" asked Harry and looked at Percy who looked startled.

"What gives you that idea?" he said in a strained voice and stared at the road, not looking Harry in the eye.

"Just something I gather from Ron's letter, situations being explosive," Harry saw that there was something going on.

"Since you are coming to the Burrow, you might as well know about this now. Fred and George have fallen out. They aren't on speaking terms." It seemed like Percy didn't want to discuss this but after Harry got over the initial shock, he demanded to know more. Percy told him what he knew, which was preciously little. Fred had a girlfriend and George wasn't happy about that and had set ultimatums which resulted in them disowning each other. After hearing this, Harry's brain went into overdrive. His first concern was the Quidditch team, would they have to find new Beaters this year as well as a Keeper? Then what about his investment, what would become of the joke shop if the twins weren't speaking? Harry, you idiot, he thought then. What about the Weasley family? What is this doing to them? They might be used to quarrels and the occasional fight but a longstanding feud between family members? Harry much doubted that there had been such a trouble before.

They arrived at the Burrow after dark and were greeted by an extremely glad Mrs Weasley.

"You were a bit longer than I expected but I kept your dinner hot," she said after having hugged and kissed a slightly embarrassed Harry.

"Mother! You know that I try to drive carefully," said Percy as he sat at the table besides Penny, who was obviously staying at the Burrow. Driving carefully, that's an understatement thought Harry. Percy had never gone faster than five miles below the speed limit and had given turning signals at least an half a mile before they had to turn.

"I knew you should have let me pick Harry up," said a cheery voice and Harry didn't need to turn around to see that it was Ron. "Hi Harry, I asked if I couldn't pick you up on Penny's car but apparently I'm too young and not a Ministry employee. I mean, if it had been down to experience, I would have been the obvious choice. I flew a car from London to Scotland," he said triumphantly.

"Don't be silly, dear. I recall you letting the car get away and getting your father into trouble with the Ministry." Mrs. Weasley waggled a finger at her youngest son.

While they squabbled about driving and cars running wild, Harry looked around for the twins but neither of them could be seen. In fact, the house seemed unnaturally quiet without the standard bangs and explosions that generally erupted from the twins' room every fifteen minutes or so under normal circumstances.

Ron took Harry upstairs to drop off his things and Harry took advantage of the opportunity to question Ron about Fred and George.

"So, what is this about Fred and George not being on speaking terms?"

"Well, that is putting it mildly. I'm surprised they haven't resorted to violence. George spends the whole day in Dad's shed or out in the garden while Fred locks himself in his room. George sleeps on the couch in the living room now. They avoid being in the kitchen at same time and when it happens, you can cut the tension in the air with a knife." Ron looked at Harry after his blunt speech.

"This is over some girl, right? We must be talking about quite the looker, right?" said Harry. Ron frowned.

"Not really. I have met her and she isn't very pretty. Ok, better than Pansy Parkinson or Eloise Midgen but we know girls many times prettier, like Angelina, Lisa Turbin and Her ... Err, I could go on and she is nasty, you know. If she was a witch, she would be in Slytherin, could be Malfoy's cousin."

"She is a Muggle?"

"Yeah, Eve Flan or something."

"Flan like in the pudding?"

"Stupid name, right? You would think she was a veela, the way they act around her. She made a really unfunny joke about my height when I met her and they laughed like she was a bloody comedian. I give her giraffes, that ash-headed b..."

"She called you a giraffe?" Ron nodded, red-eared.

"What about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?"

"Dunno. I don't think neither of them has touched any of the stuff that they have already made since the big fight." Harry suddenly felt sick to the stomach, the joke shop that the twins were planning had been one of the straws that Harry had held onto so that he would not drown in depression. He shuddered as he also remembered that the Quidditch team would be affected too. Harry was starting to resent that Eve, even before meeting her.

The next morning Harry decided to have a talk with George and followed him outside after breakfast. George was leaning against an old maple tree with his arms folded and staring blankly into space.

"George, can we talk?" Harry didn't get a reply.

"Ron told me that you and Fred had fallen out. I'm not going to talk about that as such but there are some things I need to know." George kept silent but Harry knew he heard him.

"What is going to happen to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes? I gave you money, what about that? I was investing, y'know," This felt like talking to a brickwall. Harry sighed, he could try Fred. He waited for a minute and turned around to go up to the house.

"Your money is in a vault at Gringotts. We put it there the same day you gave it to us and as for the other request, I believe there are blue dress robes in Ron's size somewhere in Fred's room. I suggest you talk to the wanker, frankly I couldn't care less." George's voice was flat and he had not turned around. Harry decided not to ask George about the Quidditch team, maybe he could ask Fred about that.

~~~~

Fred sat at his desk and stared at the photo he had of Eve. He still couldn't believe that she was his girlfriend. She had invoked such feelings inside of him that the mere thought of her made him lose his breath. All he wanted was to be near her but she lived in London. He had considered running away to stay with her in London but he knew he would cause his parents much grief and he only had one year left at Hogwarts. When he became a fully fledged wizard, he could devote all his life to Eve.

He thought about their first meeting, everything was in a haze except her. It was like he had acquired a new sight and she was the only thing in his line of vision. She had walked straight up to them, introduced herself and had put out her hand for them to shake. Fred remembered the sensation when he had touched her hand, just like an electric shock. She had been the most perfect thing he'd ever seen and he had known that she was the one. Why had George butted in? He should have stayed out of it, he didn't have a chance.

There was a knock on the door. Who was interrupting him?

"Who is it?" yelled Fred in a tone that was reminiscent of Percy's bustling manner. Or something like that.

"Just me," said Harry as he walked into the room. Fred looked at him. Hooray, another busybody who wanted to know what was up.

"I wanted to talk," said Harry hurriedly before Fred could say anything. "Is it true that the gold I gave you, is now in Gringotts?" Fred just nodded.

"So, do you have any plans to use it, for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes or anything else?" The question came as a shock to Fred, he hadn't given one thought to any of this since he had that big fight with George. He simply didn't care.

"No, if you want it back, you can get it yourself."

"Fred, don't be stupid. You know that is not what I meant. The gold can rot away in Gringotts for all I care. I just can't see you and George abandon Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes altogether. Maybe I'm being hopelessly optimistic." Harry crossed his arms and looked Fred in the eye. Fred kept silent, of course he still thought about the joke shop plans but without George, it was impossible. It had been collaboration between them in every little detail.

"Keep the faith, Harry," he said and waited for him to leave but Harry obviously had unfinished business.

"Then there is the Quidditch team. I suppose we are at least one Beater short," said Harry and sounded frighteningly like Oliver Wood. A hot jolt went through Fred's stomach. He hadn't thought about the Quidditch team at all since he and George had stopped talking. Suddenly he envisioned himself mounted on his broom, the Beater bat in his hand and he realized that the only one who was in serious danger of getting hit by his Bludger was George.

"I suppose I'll resign from the team," said Fred. "I hope you get someone who can smash up the smirking faces of the Slytherins." Harry gave him a strange glance and walked out of the room.

~~~~

Angelina was having a quiet day reading. The rain was slamming against the window and she wished it would stop soon, she really wanted to do some flying. The novel she was reading didn't hold her attention better than so that she was quick to look up when she heard a peculiar sound outside the window. A large snowy owl was approaching. Who was sending her an owl? Then she recognized the owl as the one belonging to Harry Potter. Why was he sending her a letter? He had never done that before. Suddenly she felt sick to the stomach, there were rumours that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had risen. Maybe something terrible had happened. With a shaking hand she let the owl inside and unfastened the letter from its leg. It was damp from the rain but the handwriting was bold with every capital much larger then the lowercase.

"Hi Angelina,

I hope you have been enjoying the school holidays. I am writing about matters that concern the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I have also written Alicia and Katie about this. It looks like that we do not only have an unmanned Keeper position but at least one Beater position too."

Angelina stared at this. Had something happen to the twins? No, she would have heard something if it were serious.

"It is not a pleasant task, writing you about this. Fred and George have stopped talking to each other and Fred has told me he will resign from the team as soon as next term starts. I am not sure if I should tell you the reason for this since it is personal but I think you have to know. Fred has a girlfriend now, a Muggle girl called Eve Flan and George likes her too. He demanded that Fred would choose between them and Fred chose the girl and consequently they stopped talking."

She couldn't read more. Fred had a girlfriend; it was like someone had hit her with a sledgehammer. She remembered the first time she had seen Fred. It had been their first time on the Hogwarts Express where he and George had run along the train causing as much racket as possible and Percy after them, yelling at them to behave. Fred had never behaved; in their very first class, a Transfiguration lesson, he had charmed the back of her robes to read: "Kick me!" She'd never admitted it but she had fallen in love with his pranks then, in fact she became jealous every time he teased anyone else. When they both had been selected for the Quidditch team in their second year, it had been one of her happiest days. Fred and she were part of something together now. Of course she kept her liking of Fred well hidden, it wasn't until their fifth year when she finally admitted to Alica and Katie that she really liked Fred. They had assured her that he seemed to be partial to her company, 'No wonder! You are very pretty,' Katie had said.

The Yule Ball. It had been agony, was Fred going to ask someone else or should she ask him instead? Somehow she couldn't ask him, it wouldn't have felt right. It had been such satisfaction when he had yelled her name across the common room and asked her to the Ball, she had wanted to scream of happiness but had settled for a smile. After having stared into his blue mischievous eyes all night, even when he'd engaged her in few rather vivacious dances, she had fallen in love for good. Maybe that's why she'd done what she did when they returned to the Gryffindor common room after the dance. Fred had been bidding her good night when she'd acted upon impulse, she had grabbed him by his shoulder and kissed him. They broke apart quickly, her lips were all tingly and he'd had a mysterious smile. They'd stared at each other for a moment and then she hadn't been able to bear it any longer. She had turned up the stairs to the girls' dormitory and vaguely remembering that she'd said good-night to him. Angelina touched her lips, still remembering the feeling of the kiss.

She quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. Fred was taken, some girl meant now so much to him that he had fallen out with his twin. This all seemed so absurd, no two people were closer than Fred and George. She knew that many seemed to be confused as to where one twin ended and the other one began. That had never been a problem for her, she knew always them apart and found the differences between them were more obvious than the likenesses. Fred always buried his hands boyishly in his pockets while George stood his defence with arms crossed over his chest. Fred usually talked in more relaxed tone than George whose voice had more laughter in it. The list was endless, Angelina could do a N.E.W.T. exam on them, she had studied them ever since their first day at Hogwarts.

Who was this Muggle girl? Eve Flan, stupid name really. What did she look like? It didn't matter if they were alike in appearance or not. Angelina wanted to scream at the mere thought of that girl. There was no doubt she had to be stunningly beautiful since she was able to come between the twins. Did the girl care about that? Maybe she was the sort who liked guys fighting over her. Angelina shook her head and finished reading the letter.

"I do not think we can do anything about this until the term starts in September. Hopefully I did you a favour by telling you this now.

See you soon,

Harry"

Big favour, Harry! Angelina threw the letter on her bed. At least she didn't have to worry she would make a fool of herself flirting with Fred. A big lump was building in her throat, there was a burning sensation in her eyes. Broken heart, so that's how it felt.